


Reparations

by TheInvisibleMika



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Established Relationship, Fix-It, M/M, aka i love breakdown more than the people who wrote him, spoilers for s2ep7: crossfire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:30:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9158215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheInvisibleMika/pseuds/TheInvisibleMika
Summary: What could have been if Knock Out had heard of Breakdown's dismemberment before MECH did.





	

**Author's Note:**

> You ever watch an episode of a TV show and get so upset at the mishandling of a character that you just HAVE to write something? Because you have so many ideas on what could've been, but you've already ranted to all your friends about it?
> 
> This is the result of that.

Knock Out knew that MECH had inserted a tracking device into Breakdown when they had operated on him - anyone with a half-functioning processor could’ve assumed as much. He also knew that it was impossible to remove without extensive surgery, the likes of which was out of the question in their current condition. Time was always an issue, as was energon. Megatron couldn’t have one of his most valued fighters out of commission for more time than he absolutely had to be.

But one thing MECH didn’t prepare for was that they weren’t the only ones tracking Breakdown.

Breakdown had always been rather paranoid, especially for a Decepticon, but had calmed down considerably since his and Knock Out’s first meeting. One day, long before their arrival on the Nemesis, he’d requested that Knock Out install a tracking device in him. Breakdown worried that they’d get split up at some point, and he’d be devastated if he ever lost his partner. Knock Out, taken aback slightly, had complied.

Now, Knock Out stood at his terminal, half in shock over the rapid fading of Breakdown’s signal, and half thanking Primus for his Conjunx’s foresight. With his emergency medical kit in tow, he raced down the winding halls of the Nemesis. He ignored every wayward glance of curious Vehicons. He was beyond caring about Soundwave’s perpetual observation. No, at that moment, all that mattered was getting to Breakdown before anyone else did.

Sure, the GroundBridge was usually off-limits. But Knock Out assured himself that his goal was important enough to warrant stepping outside of his usual boundaries.

He arrived at his destination - somewhere in Bolivia, the terminal had told him - and began his search. Quietly, he transformed his servo into its circular saw mode, muttering to himself that whoever - or _whatever_ \- nearly offlined Breakdown would likely still be around.

And, lo and behold, there she was. “I’m surprised, Knock Out,” Airachnid crooned, perched on a particularly sturdy tree branch. “I didn’t picture you to be so eager to risk your finish over a brute like Breakdown. Or rather… a brute like Breakdown _was_.”

With a grin, she swept down from the tree to circle Knock Out menacingly. “Have fun trying to patch him up. I’ve got business _elsewhere_.” And before he could do more than glare, she was gone amidst the foliage.

_Could’ve been worse_ , Knock Out thought, retracting his saw as he continued his trek. _Now, I just have to find him._

Before he could monologue further, Knock Out found himself struggling to lift his pede. He frowned, casting an irritated glance at the ground when he realized he’d been distracted enough to step in the remains of one of Airachnid’s webs. He noted that it looked too haphazardly placed to be a trap… and the web wrapped around a nearby tree confirmed this suspicion. _Well,_ he thought. _Then that means Breakdown shouldn’t be too far away_. After a short while, one that was likely equivalent to hours in the grand scheme of things, Knock Out managed to step out of the web.

He cursed under his breath as his first aid kit was jostled on the uneven terrain, its wheels surely getting caked in dirt that would take ages to clean off. His own pedes, Knock Out mused, were probably equally as dirty. _I’ll sort that out later,_ he thought.

Before long, Knock Out found what he’d been looking for.

Despite the darkness, Breakdown’s frame - or what remained of it - was as recognizable as ever. It caught him off guard, somewhat, to see his partner’s limbs scattered on the hillside, denied as much respect in death as he was in life. And yet…

And yet, Knock Out could still feel what was left of his EM field, which was obviously impossible for a corpse to have.

As he approached Breakdown, Knock Out extended his own field, to the point where it was within reach of Breakdown’s. The slowly withering field reacted with a quick flare, and then retreated back into itself. Almost as if he was _afraid_.

_Nonsense_ , Knock Out chided himself,  _I’m reading far too much into things._

He opened up his medical kit with a snide remark on not knowing where to start, but was once again interrupted - this time by the whirr of helicopter blades.

“Requesting an emergency GroundBridge,” Knock Out commed, fully aware of how irritated Megatron would be with him. However, the usual stern voice in his audial was missing, as was the silent message in his feed. All he got was a few kliks of fumbling, and a foreign voice asking, “What for?”

“Erm, who am I speaking to?”

“A-a Vehicon, sir.”

“Right.” Knock Out sighed, glancing over his shoulder. “I’m sending you my coordinates. Breakdown is with me--” he heard some muffled chatter in the background - “and he’s… well, there’s no way around it. He’s close to offlining.” The chatter grew in volume and intensity. “So I would _appreciate_ if you hurried up with the Bridge, please.”

Just like that, the GroundBridge appeared mere feet in front of them, dispersing two terrified looking Vehicons. “Knock Out! Sir!” One of them said, rushing towards him. “We wish to help carry Breakdown back to the medical bay, so--”

Knock Out scowled. “Well get _on_ with it then. We’ve only got so much _time_ before--” Once again, he heard the helicopter, this time its spotlight catching sight of him. “Before we’ve got _company_.”

\---

The trip back to the medical bay was a frustrating one. Sure, Megatron’s absence made it somewhat less stressful, as did the lack of Airachnid, Dreadwing, and Starscream - really, now that Knock Out thought about it, the only high-ranking Decepticon on board was Soundwave. But what _really_ spoiled it was the crowd of Vehicons intent on following him everywhere.

He’d amassed a small posse as soon as he and the other two started carrying Breakdown onto the ship, piece by piece. And while it _was_ helpful to have a few mechs expedite the process… it had long since passed being called ‘a few’. Knock Out counted around thirty Vehicons crowding the long since shut doorway of the medical bay, and still more calling in to ask about Breakdown’s condition (“It’s been twenty minutes,” he’d retorted, “his _head’s_ attached, but he’s not _conscious_ yet”). Sometimes, Knock Out wondered what his Conjunx saw in the endless droves of Vehicons.

He brushed the thought away, and went back to staring into the open spark chamber lying before him. It was fading, any decent medic could see that much, and Knock Out pretended not to notice that parts of Breakdown’s frame were looking just a little bit greyer.

His readings were quite clear - Breakdown needed something, anything, to start him back up again. But there was nothing he could think of that could simply revive part of a mech’s spark.

Nothing _conventional_ , at least. Unless...

Airachnid’s words echoed in Knock Out’s processor: _‘I didn’t picture you to be so eager to risk your finish over a brute like Breakdown.’_

A smile crept onto Knock Out’s face as he opened his own spark chamber. _She has no idea how much I’m willing to risk_ , he thought, as he leaned towards his partner and exchanged part of Breakdown’s spark for his own.

\---

Knock Out onlined some length of time later. He was splayed over the berth, his arm awkwardly draped over Breakdown’s chest. He attempted to right himself, but was caught with a sudden feeling of fatigue - which, he realized, was from sparkbonding with a mech who was near death. With some struggle, he stood up, supporting himself on the berth. His optics wandered to Breakdown’s still-open spark chamber, now boasting an eye-catching red swirl.

_That’s… much more than I’d intended to give,_ Knock Out frowned. However, a quick look at his partner’s levels justified his sacrifice. Although still weak, Breakdown had returned to safety, and was now simply in recharge. Obviously, his limbs still needed to be fixed, but to say that Knock Out wasn’t proud of his accomplishment would be greatly overestimating the medic’s modesty. He took a moment to update Breakdown’s files - the likes of which were surely putting a strain on his allotted file space. However, as it always seemed to, his reflection in the monitor caught his optic.

Specifically his right optic, which was almost completely yellow.

“Well,” Knock Out muttered, long past caring if Soundwave overheard, “I suppose there’s no way of hiding it _now_.”

“And gold _does_ look good on you,” a hoarse voice replied from the berth. Knock Out spun around to see Breakdown, now sporting a red iris against his yellow sclera, smiling weakly back at him.

Knock Out sighed. “I know,” he said, abandoning his terminal to sit beside Breakdown. “But you should save your strength… you’ve still got several days worth of repairs ahead of you. And _cleaning_ , might I add.”

Breakdown chuckled - Knock Out silently realized how much he missed that sound, even considering how brief his absence was. “Can’t say I’m opposed to any of that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Something that always intrigued me was the idea of two sparkbonded Cybertronians gaining parts of the other's optic color - since their optic colors are drawn from their spark. But on the reason why I wrote this... I feel like Breakdown's character arc was kind of cut short. It seemed almost as if he was going to defect, and even if he had to be killed off, we never got to see Knock Out grieving (but all of that is best saved for a different fic).


End file.
